Overwhelming Response - Discover Hong Kong

Overwhelming responseThrough the years, the response rate tothe invitations that Fossil sends out hascontinued to grow, and in 2006 Fossilhosted 170 people, a new record. Thelast four conferences have been held atthe same hotel, the Harbour Plaza HongKong, right on the Kowloon waterfrontnear Whampoa Garden.“Two years ago, we only used the firstfloor of the hotel. Last year, we alsotook over the 18th floor, and for thisyear we needed to add the presidentialsuite on the 19th floor,” says Seon Joo,regional marketing manager, who hasbeen responsible for the planning.She regards the Harbour Plaza HongKong as an excellent venue for an eventof this kind: “It is inspirational, since itoffers a fabulous view wherever you are inthe hotel. The hotel staff are also veryprofessional, dedicated and flexible.”Handsomely appointed meeting rooms were the perfect setting for business discussions.When US-based Fossil Inc arranged itsannual Asia Sales Conference in HongKong in 2006, it was the fifth year in arow that Fossil had chosen Hong Kongas the location.“The annual sales conference is themost important event of the year for usand, as a destination, Hong Kongcontributes a lot to our success. Eversince we began hosting the conferenceshere, we have seen a 50 per centgrowth in sales per year,” says MarkParker, senior vice president Asia.convenient to go to. There is no betteralternative than Hong Kong, since it hasdirect flights to most cities where ourguests come from and most of theflights are just a few hours. It alsomakes sense to arrange this conferencein Hong Kong since we have ourregional headquarters here and amajority of our products are manufacturedin south China,” says Parker.The customers are entertained bytraditional cultural performances.All the business activities took place inthe hotel, including the boardroommeetings, the poolside welcome dinner,the awards presentation dinner, and theproduct reviews and press interviews,which meant that many of the hotel’srooms and suites had to be transformedto suit Fossil’s needs.Special showrooms were set up foreach of the 14 brands that Fossilmarkets and distributes in Asia. All theproducts were on display, andFossil offers an extensive line of fashionwatches, sold under both its own housebrands and a number of licensed brands,such as Adidas, Burberry, DKNY, EmporioArmani and Marc Jacobs.“We bring in customers, brand managersand media representatives from allover Asia, as well as from Australia,Egypt, Germany and the US, so weneed to be at a place which is very

city has a great infrastructure, excellentservice levels, and a splendid variety ofthings to do for the guests when theyare not working,” says Joo.The programme included a horse racingnight at the Happy Valley racecourse, andthe guests were also provided with a listof many free activities to choose between.“Hong Kong contributes a lot toour success,” says Fossil Asia'sMark Parker.customers were free to stroll fromroom to room, checking out the variousfashion watches, accessories andapparel, and talking to brand managers,who were happy to take orders. Allthese arrangements were made withonly one day’s notice.Organising a conference for almost 200people involves a lot of logistics. Theplanning takes about a year. No soonerdid the 2006 conference wind up thanParker and Joo were planning for the2007 event.There are no prizes for guessing thelocation of next year’s conference –Hong Kong ...Seon Joo books the same Hong Kong hotelyear after year.“We also organised things to do for ourguests in the evenings. In every sense,Hong Kong is a perfect destination. TheA flutter on the horses is a must for the delegates.Hong Kong setsa standardShannon Washburn works as an international brandmanager for the Fossil brand. She is based in Dallas, Texas– where Fossil has its headquarters – and has visited theAsia Sales Conference all five years it has been running.“This is a great event for us,” she says. “The team in HongKong has really set a standard that we in the US haveadapted for conferences. The organisation has beenexcellent and the way they put all the brands on display isvery inspiring.”Washburn has made business trips to Hong Kong about10 times. For her, Hong Kong is an ideal place to go tosince it is close to Fossil’s factories in south China.She loves the skyline, and thinks the people are incredible.She loves a flutter on the horses, and says a night at theHappy Valley races is a must-do in Hong Kong. Sheenjoys the beautiful scenery and was surprised at all thegreenery in and around Sai Kung in the New Territories:“Hong Kong has such a variety, much more than I couldever expect.”Hong Kong’s varietyimpresses ShannonWashburn fromDallas, Texas.